Lawrie doesn’t pitch, Huskies lose to ASU

The top-ranked Washington softball team got a home run out of Danielle Lawrie on Thursday, but with their senior ace taking a day off from pitching the Huskies had their seven-game win streak snapped with a 6-5 loss at Arizona State.

Freshman Baily Harris took the loss for Washington as her record fell to 9-4 on the season. She gave up five runs in four innings, while sophomore reliever Jenna Clifton allowed one more in her two innings of work.

Lawrie and Taylor Smith each hit home runs for the Huskies, but it wasn’t quite enough to keep Washington from falling to 43-6 overall, 15-4 in conference play.

The Huskies, who have already clinched their first Pac-10 title since 2000, finish up conference play with games Friday and Saturday against the 10th-ranked Sun Devils in Tempe.

The Huskies trailed 5-0 after four innings Thursday before mounting a comeback fueled by Smith’s two-run home run in the fifth.

The Sun Devils scored what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the fifth. Washington got that run back in the sixth with a double by Shawna Wright and an RBI single by Hooch Fagaly to make it 6-3.

After Clifton held ASU scoreless in the bottom of the inning, the Huskies nearly tied the game up in the seventh. Kimi Pohlman, who went 2-for-3, led off with a walk and then scored on Lawrie’s blast to center field, her 13th home run of the season.

But Arizona State pitcher Hillary Bach retire the next two batters to close out the win.

Senior Amanda Fleischman also had two hits for the Huskies, who had 10 for the game. But ASU racked up 11 hits and Washington also committed a pair of errors.

The two teams play again Friday at 7 p.m. before finishing up Saturday at noon. Washington then learns its NCAA Regional bid on Sunday with the NCAA Selection Show at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.